C28

Chapter 28: Crumbling Friday — Second Half

The fourth-period class continued.

Amidst the sound of the teacher's voice echoing through the room, the students faced forward. Yet, inside their heads, the words they had exchanged with their friends moments before kept repeating over and over.

They weren't the only ones worried about what happened that day.

In other places, similar conversations were being exchanged. The more they realized this, the more the thoughts within their chests slowly solidified into a certainty.

They had been there. But they weren't the ones who started it.

The more they thought about it, the more a different emotion began to outweigh the anxiety born from Tachibana's absence or the lingering dread over what would happen next.

—Why should we be dragged into something like this?

That irritation naturally turned toward Kujo and the others.

Similar changes were happening all across the classroom.

Whenever Kujo and his group walked past nearby, a slight distance spontaneously formed between them and the surroundings. Even if their eyes met, no one smiled back the way they used to. When spoken to, they returned only the bare minimum of words, letting conversations die out immediately.

It wasn't as though anyone had explicitly decided to shun Kujo and the group.

It was simply that the irritation breeding inside each of them was gradually bleeding out into their attitudes.

As these tiny shifts accumulated, before anyone realized it, a clear, unmistakable gap had formed in the classroom between Kujo's circle and everyone else—one that hadn't existed before.

Only the teacher's voice droned on monotonously through that kind of classroom.

Eventually, the chime signaling the end of the fourth period rang...

◇

Lunch break.

Toward the back of the classroom, a group of girls lowered their voices while minding their surroundings.

"......Suzumura-san was super chummy with Tachibana-kun right here in the classroom, wasn't she?"

"Yeah. They'd chat normally during break times and stuff."

"Isn't it wild that that was all an act?"

"If it were me, acting totally normal like that every day would be impossible."

"I know right. If she can pull it off that naturally, she could probably aim to be an actress in the future."

"Yeah... her acting was seriously that good."

"Tachibana-kun totally believed it for real, didn't he?"

"Thinking about it that way, isn't that kind of scary?"

"Scary, or rather... I feel like even if Suzumura-san talks to me normally now, I won't be able to tell how much of it is real anymore."

"That I get."

"Makes me start thinking that even the vibe we saw in the classroom until now was all an act."

"......When you put it that way, you just can't look at her the same way."

Right as those words dropped—

"......What are you guys talking about?"

Called out, the girls raised their heads in unison.

Standing at the destination of their gazes was Renya Kujo. Normally, if Kujo spoke up, anyone would respond with a bright smile—but today was different. Everyone directed cold, detached eyes toward Kujo.

"......Nothing."

The reply was blunt.

At that reaction, Kujo twitched his brow slightly.

"No... I mean, it sounded like you were talking about Suzumura?"

"So what if we were?"

The tone remained flat.

Kujo's expression stiffened ever so slightly.

"......Eh?"

It was clearly different from the reaction he had anticipated. He had expected them to laugh and reply like always, yet no one was smiling. The gazes directed at him carried a coldness that hadn't been there before.

"......I mean, Kujo-kun."

A single girl stared intently at Kujo.

"Do you even realize what the classroom atmosphere is like right now?"

"Eh?"

"Because you did that to Tachibana-kun, the room's like this right now."

"No, I was—"

Kujo fumbled for words, looking bewildered.

"I said it for Suzumura's sake. She has her modeling work and all, so it'd be bad if weird rumors started spreading, right?"

At those words, several gazes turned toward Kokona.

Kokona sat at her desk with her head bowed, and beside her, Kaho simply stayed close in quiet silence.

The conversation between Kujo and the others, as well as the words flying over from the surroundings, should have reached her ears. Yet, Kokona kept her head bowed and continued sitting in that spot without saying a word.

"If she has modeling work, then all the more reason not to be pulling stunts like that."

"......Eh?"

"To begin with, Suzumura-san confessed a fake romance to Tachibana-kun and dated him, right?"

Another girl chimed in.

"Then why is it turning into a story like Tachibana-kun is the bad guy?"

"No, but..."

Kujo tried to talk back.

Yet, the girl showed no sign of waiting for him, piling words on top.

"Tachibana-kun just got tricked and didn't actually do anything wrong, did he?"

"If anything, he got treated like he was on public trial in the classroom after school—isn't Tachibana-kun the one who got hurt?"

The corners of Kujo's mouth twitched slightly.

"Public trial... that's a bit of an exaggeration—"

"Then what was that even for? Did you really need to say it in front of everyone?"

"That's... no, so..."

The more Kujo tried to piece words together, the heavier the atmosphere grew, refusing to return to normal. Even though he was trying to steer the conversation back to the usual flow, the girls in front of him weren't buying his excuses. Things that normally would have blown over by now—facing that reality, Kujo himself gradually began to feel a creeping sense of panic.

—This is wrong.

Normally, things wouldn't turn out like this.

Right then—

"We got reeled in by Kujo, but..."

A single boy looked around the surroundings.

"Ever since then, Tachibana hasn't been coming to school, right?"

"..."

"When you think about that, it makes us look like the bad guys too."

Kujo's expression tightened.

"I mean... feels like we got roped into your guys' petty, malicious little game?"

At those words, no voices of objection rose from the surroundings.

Kujo's gaze wandered nervously across the room. Yet, quickly trying to put on a mask of composure, he opened his mouth.

"No, I didn't mean to..."

Right as he started to say it, Kujo cut off his own words.

Even though he felt like he had to say something, the words he usually used to wrap things up wouldn't come out.

His mouth moved slightly. But the words beyond that refused to follow.

Just then—

"What's wrong with everyone? What are you guys talking about?"

Rinko Takamiya stepped into the circle as if nothing were amiss—unaware of the gazes directed at her from the surroundings, or the heavy atmosphere drifting over the spot.

"......I mean, Rinko, you were part of the fake confession crew too, right?"

"Huh? Yeah, I suppose?"

Rinko answered in her usual bright tone.

"..."

A bizarre silence fell over the spot.

"Tachibana-kun's been absent this whole time, don't you think anything of it?"

"I've been wanting to apologize, but he's not coming to school at all so we're kind of stuck, you know."

"......Rinko, are you seriously saying that?"

"Eh?"

"The reason Tachibana-kun can't come to school—isn't it because of you guys?"

"..."

A smile gradually vanished from Rinko's face.

"And yet, saying stuff like 'we're stuck because he won't come'... you're only thinking about yourself."

"..."

"I've thought this for a while now, but... have you ever actually thought about the other person? Whenever someone didn't want to do something, even if they tried to turn it down a little, you'd always call them a 'buzzkill' and pin the blame on them."

"I didn't mean it like that..."

"You did. It's always been like that."

"Eh?"

"Whenever someone went 'Ah, maybe I'll sit this one out,' or showed even a little bit of reluctance, you'd immediately call them a 'buzzkill.' When you're told that, turning it down normally is practically impossible."

"That wasn't my intention..."

"But it's a fact that you created an atmosphere where it was hard to say no."

At those words, Rinko couldn't say a thing, casting her gaze downward.

Meiko Kano, who had been listening to that exchange nearby, let out a small breath.

Then, opening her mouth with an air of annoyance:

"Even if we leave him alone, he'll probably be back by next week anyway. Aren't you guys making too big a deal out of it?"

At those words, those around them lost their words for a split second.

"......Why the hell do you think he'll be back by next week?"

A boy nearby chimed in with an exasperated tone.

"Who knows? Tachibana's a loner anyway, right? He's always just a guy sitting by himself tinkering with his smartphone, remember? Why make such a big fuss just because he skipped school for a bit now?"

"..."

No one replied.

The gazes staring at Meiko averted one after another.

For a mere fraction of seconds, voices vanished entirely from the classroom.

—You're better off not getting involved with her.

That instinctual wariness alone spread quietly.

The hubbub of the lunch break felt strangely distant.

With no one opening their mouths, only an awkward silence persisted.

Before long, as if shattering that silence, a single girl spoke up.

"Hey, Meiko... did you really delete that video from back then?"

"I deleted it. I deleted it properly back then, didn't I?"

"Well, I hope so... because if a video like that gets leaked, it'd be the absolute worst."

If that video leaked, it would preserve everything—who was laughing in that exact spot on that day, who was enjoying it.

Harboring those thoughts in their chests, no one dared to speak them aloud.

"..."

Amidst the heavy silence, Kujo scanned his surroundings.

"Ah... um, I'll figure something out about Tachibana's situation..."

It was a voice trying to manage the situation just like he always did—yet what came back in response were only cold, detached stares.

No one smiled.

No one nodded.

Kujo closed his mouth awkwardly.

The gazes directed at him no longer held the trust they once had, nor any trace of an attempt to play along with him.

Thank you so much for a total of 2 million PV!

Along with my gratitude to everyone who has read the story so far, I've also posted illustrations of Rinko Takamiya and Meiko Kano in my recent notes.

Please feel free to check them out if you'd like!